I had COVID-19 symptoms and recovered, but my antibody test left me with more questions than answers. Here's what the process was like.

The reporter at ARCpoint Lab in Martinez, California, on April 20, 2020.Katie Canales/Business Insider

• In March, my roommate and I both got sick — we had headaches, fatigue, coughs, and shortness of breath for two weeks. I even had "COVID toes."
• We figured we both had mild cases of the coronavirus, but never got tested because of testing shortages at the time.
• I got an antibody test this week to find out whether I might now be immune to the coronavirus.
• But my results showed that my antibody counts were under the threshold required to test positive, leaving me with even more questions.
• Here's what the experience was like.
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When the Bay Area issued its shelter-in-place order on March 17, my three roommates and I started preparing to spend the next month together in our small apartment.

But then two of us started experiencing COVID-19 symptoms: headaches, coughs, fatigue, and shortness of breath. I even had a symptom now deemed "COVID toes" — the middle three toes on both my feet turned deep red and purple, swelling and becoming itchy. (At the time, I didn't realize that was related to my other symptoms, however.)

I called my doctor around day seven of the illness, but she advised against coming in for a test. Because my symptoms didn't require critical medical attention, she said, it wasn't worth going to a medical facility to get tested, since there weren't many available tests and I could risk more potential exposure to the virus.

My roommate and I both self-isolated, recovered at home, and felt almost back to normal about two weeks later.

But we've been left wondering whether the illness we had was COVID-19.

So this week, I took an antibody test, also known as a serological test, which can detect coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies in the bloodstream.

These tests promise answers for the many people like me who experienced coronavirus symptoms but were unable to confirm a diagnosis. They also offer epidemiologists a better sense of the virus' true spread.

But I knew from my own reporting that there are plenty of reasons to be wary. For one, many companies have been offering tests that aren't approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The one I took, from Diazyme Laboratories, Inc., was submitted for FDA authorization but hasn't gotten it yet. In addition, one study found that 6% of recovered coronavirus patients didn't develop antibodies at all, and younger people tended to have lower levels of antibodies than older patients.

I opted for an antibody test anyway, however, hoping to get confirmation that I'd had the virus and am now immune. But my test came back negative, leaving me with even more questions.

Here's what the experience was like.